Today was one of those satisfying days where a solid amount of progress was done, without any one aspect particularly standing out. The car is slowly but meticulously being repaired, and given what’s at stake, we’re loathe to rush things whereby mistakes are more likely to be made.

As work continued, evidence of the car’s sound design was further revealed as we saw, for the first time since installing the battery pack back in March, the bottom layer of rear batteries. We had no idea how they would have lasted over the last 20,000km so it was with pleasant surprise that we saw how pristine it all was. Literally, there was not a spec of dust or the remotest sign of water here; proof that our waterproofing concept works! Everything was as shiny and new-looking as the day we installed it, and this pleased us greatly. Nonetheless, work continued apace until around 7.30pm.

During the afternoon, Clemens and myself sent some time with Claudio (the director/cameraman of the documentary series) doing some filming in the apartment. In addition, we began discussing how we were going to work together to ensure that the documentary is fully funded. Essentially, we have been offered the opportunity to start broadcasting the show on BBC World News, the world’s largest TV channel, on January 1st 2011! This is really soon, so as such, the funding of the editing and other production-related expenses has to be dealt with.

With work on the car and other activities finished for the day, we reconvened at the apartment before leaving on a somewhat unusual dinner arrangement. We had invited by the British Consul to have dinner alongside another adventurer who is travelling around the world in 8 years. The setting was a German restaurant about an hour south of Cartagena, which the owner especially opened up for us when he heard that there were 3 Germans on the team! Sometimes it helps having them around

Anyway, we enjoyed a delicious meal out of the city in the most beautiful of surroundings and most stimulating of company. Both Graham (the Consul) and Paul (the adventurer) were very entertaining with a number of great stories accumulated over the years. The night was not without its serious notes however as we discussed the problem of passing through FARC territory in southern Colombia, and what the recent successes of the Colombian security forces may mean to a bunch of Europeans travelling around in the most visible car for miles around! But the advice was that as long as we keep our heads down, we should be fine!

With this in mind, we continued our meal, said our goodbyes, and headed back for the city completely knackered. All these early starts coupled with hours of work in the garage really sucks the energy out of oneself! Nonetheless, it’s always a great feeling to know that you are making a positive and discernible improvement to the car.

On a separate note, RGE would like to welcome Paul Jackson to the team. Paul has come to Colombia and will be staying with us for the rest of the trip as a video editor. As skilled as they come, with jobs like “Long Way Down” in his repertoire, he will be in charge of churning out the web clips that you can see on the videos section of our website. The process of editing these clips, even though they are short, is extremely difficult and time consuming, so Paul will be able to reduce Claudio’s workload on this front. Welcome!

6 Responses to “Continued Work”

Dear RGET ,
“ The Long Way Round ” and “ The Straight Way Down ”
( the Pan American Highway ) show that there is still
a lot to discover about our world and Mother Earth ,
which is no different from some of the romantic and
exotic explorers who have walked the earth , to name
a few Alexander the Great , Genghis Khan , Marco Polo ,
Vasco Da Gama , Christopher Columbus , The Conquistadors ,
Sir Walter Raleigh , Magellan , Captain Cook , Napoleon ,
The Slaves in Egypt , America and other countries ,
The French Huguenots , The Irish Immigrants to the Americas ,
The 1820 Settlers in South Africa , Dr Livingston , Stanley
even Cecil John Rhodes , Mahatma Gandhi who rediscovered
his own country India , whether in war , discovery or
necessity for good or for bad , the list continues while
we may not forget some of the mass migrations due to
persecutions , inappropriate political emancipation and
some basic human requirements like food and water have
often presented new horizons and opportunities for humankind ,
offering a kaleidoscope of cultures and ideas which continue
to mesmerize our enquiring minds and perpetually changing
the face of our world .

Today we are fortunate that we have electronic medium and
technology to convey the “ latest ” at our convenience
with the remote touch of a button .
However , it is the reactions to the processed information
that determine some of the outcomes which could have some
everlasting impact .

Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarios de Colombia – FARC , the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia was a distant idea
similar to the romantic notion of the revered or reviled
Che Guevara ( Ernesto Guevara ) , who by the way did two
trips through South America on a motobike , starting from
Central America probably along the precursor to the Pan
American Highway and wrote “ The Motocycle Diaries ”
which was adapted into an award wining film in 2004 .

Dear RGET , I take the liberty of INSISTING that one
of you READ more about FARC and their ilk who have peppered
or spiced South American lore and legends as you are about
to beat in the footsteps of people who were there before
you and forewarned is to be forearmed as all these people
deserve the RESPECT for good or for bad , because they
have left an indelible mark where you are about to tread .

It seems that this part of the Trip is going to prove very
interesting and we wish you all , the very best with ENVY
from Ladysmith ( Kwazulu Natal ) in sunny South Africa ,
Charles and friends .

On a reassuring note, I just returned to California after a three week visit to Colombia. I spent two weeks in Southern Colombia, in the department of Narino, which has been known to be home to guerillas. Let me assure you that it is safe. President Uribe really did a number on the FARC, and the guerillas are no longer the threat that they were a few years ago. I visited isolated areas, and all was calm. No hint at all of any guerillas or drug traffickers.

Just wanted to say hi, well done so far, good luck with the rest of the trip and boy, it sounds like you’ve been having a tough time. I’ve been so busy over the past few weeks I haven’t managed to keep up with how it’s been going. I am so in awe of you guys, sticking with it, not cheating, waiting and hassling and going through all you’ve been through. Well done all of you. Can’t wait to hear about the successful completion and see the results of the buckets of footage Claudio must have shot by now.

Welcome to Colombia. as someone with many years of experience racing solar cars around the world I understand your undertaking, pains and gratifications. I lived many years outside of Colombia where I help to build my fair share of technology, I can say I am now glad to be back. I believe is was my lab which was offered to repair the car but in Medellin a full days way.
If there is any piece of advice I can give you, it is: look out for the traffic, its your greatest threat traveling through this country and always be friendly, this is one of the nicest thing about this country, its people, whether they are in some hut buy the road side or in the trendiest part of Bogota 99.5% of them are there to help.

can’t wait to catch up with you and cheer you on.
enjoy what i hope will be a pleasant discovery

Hi, I work for KPMG in the Medellín office, Colombia, and I think that your project it’s a great way to turn off down the obsolete vision that many people have about electric cars.
Enjoy your travel in our green country, I’m sure that you gonna get a lot of Colombian friends.